It wasn’t so long ago that we were enjoying the late summer sunshine on our tenants’ residential at Calvert Lakes near Keswick, and it was obviously something that everyone enjoyed given the number of requests we had for another holiday just like it.

Whilst mid-winter in the Lake District isn’t perhaps the best time to embark on three days of outdoor adventures – including water based activities – Fairoak’s tenants weren’t to be deterred.

So in early February, 18 tenants plus 4 of the Fairoak team headed to the Kepplewray Centre at Broughton-in-Furness for three days of outdoor adventure and, hopefully, plenty of fun.

Fairoak Customer Engagement Officer, Alison Barnes: “Where to start… well, let’s just say that the weather forecast could have been better but the tenants were determined to go ahead, and what an experience they had!”

Day one’s activities of archery and bushcraft were indeed undertaken in rain but, undeterred, everyone donned their waterproofs, took part and enjoyed themselves – toasting marshmallows over an open campfire was definitely a highlight of the first day!

The next morning was time to put on the waterproofs, walking boots and helmets for a hike Hodge Close Quarry from Little Langdale and into Cathedral Cave. The caves and adjoining tunnels were created as a result of historic mining activities, with the main ‘cathedral’ being an enormous 40-foot high cavernous chamber.

“The walk was a bit further than we had anticipated but, again, everyone just took it in their stride and were rewarded with a great experience that they will definitely remember for a very long time.”

Canoeing on Coniston Water was the afternoon’s activity with the canadian-style canoes turned into rafts with plenty of strenuous paddling ensuing to get the craft out into the middle of the lake. Thankfully the weather stayed dry and, even more remarkably, so did we with everyone managing to stay in the canoes!

Archery and crate stacking were on the agenda for the last day, more brilliant fun for everyone to get involved with.

“Some of the activities were much harder than anything they [the tenants] had ever done before.” adds Alison, “The walk to Cathedral Caves was longer than anticipated and the weather was pretty rubbish at times, but they were all brilliant.”

“It was amazing to see the resilience they had to tackle these challenges, trying things some of them had never done before, properly getting out of their comfort zone, and seeing just how proud they were at the end of it.”

Like the stay at Calvert Lakes, the Kepplewray residential was partially funded by Friends of Fairoak through donations and from money raised from last year’s Coniston to Barrow walk.

Friends of Fairoak contributed a third of the fees for the residential, with tenants self-funding the rest.

You can see more great images from our time at the Kepplewray Centre on the Fairoak Facebook page:

A Fairoak Housing Association tenant has achieved a place on a national housing advisory panel and has already made it clear that the voice of tenants with learning disabilities and supported housing is going to be heard.

Lily Beck was living with her family in Kendal before moving into one of Fairoak’s supported properties towards the end of the Covid pandemic in 2021.

In early February Lily applied for, and was appointed to, the National Housing Federation’s Tenant Advisory Panel. The Panel comprises people who are themselves social housing residents and have a desire to help improve how tenants and housing associations work together.

Alison Barnes is the Customer Engagement Officer at Fairoak Housing Association: “Lily is passionate about people like her with learning disabilities and social housing, and has been to quite a few tenant conferences and events around the country over recent years.”

“When the National Housing Federation announced they were seeking to appoint a new cohort for their Tenant Advisory Panel, both Lisa [Chant, Fairoak Chief Executive] and I immediately thought of Lily.”

“It’s about equality!” says Lily, “And wanting everyone to have the same opportunities that I’ve had, and choices about where I live and how I live.”

The panel operates as a forum that the National Housing Federation can engage with during the development of policy areas and services for its housing association members.

Alison and Lily worked on the application together and, just a few days after submitting, they received notification to say that she was shortlisted and could she be available for an interview.

This was held remotely via Zoom, with Lily only given a couple of days to prepare: “They did send some information about the type of questions they were going to ask, but it didn’t give me much time to practise my answers. That actually helped as it meant I didn’t have too much time to dwell on what I should say.”

Lily says she felt quite calm during the interview and didn’t experience any nerves, even though there were four people asking questions: “They were actually really nice, very easy to get on with. I can even remember all their names – Andy, Pandora, Valerie and Stephen.”

Over ninety people applied to be on the Tenant Advisory Panel, which was then shortlisted down to ten who would be interviewed. From this, just five would eventually be selected for the Panel.

There hasn’t been much time for Lily to dwell on her achievement as meetings are already in the diary with people from the National Housing Federation along with the chance to meet her other Panel members face-to-face.

In addition to regular online meetings, Lily and her colleagues will be attending conferences and other housing association events across the UK as well as promoting the adoption of the ‘Together with Tenants’ charter and supporting housing associations to make sure that they fulfil their commitments to their tenants.

It will definitely be a ‘hands-on’ role for Lily, learning new skills by working with the other tenant representatives and housing professionals on important projects.

“Being appointed to the Panel is a 3-year commitment, with potential for this to be followed by a second term of 3 years.” explains Alison.

“Lily’s voice on the Panel is incredibly important; the fact that she is herself a tenant with a learning disability who is living in supported housing means that she can bring her own lived experiences to the forum and provide a first-hand account of issues that others haven’t thought about or aren’t aware of.”

“She knows what it’s like for someone with a learning disability to make that move from living at home into supported independent accommodation; she is incredibly passionate about equality and inclusion, and we’re all certain that her voice will well and truly be heard.”

Whilst she seems to be taking everything in her stride, Lily is fully aware of what she has already achieved: “This is an amazing opportunity, and I’ve been given the chance that not everyone gets so I’ve got to make it count.”

Aside from her new position and responsibilities on the Panel, Lily already has a busy life with volunteering at a charity shop and at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal.

She is also a Fairoak Owl, the tenant board which makes decisions about how Fairoak is run and helps the Association to develop policies and strategies that affect all of their tenants.

What is the National Housing Federation?

The National Housing Federation (NHF) represents almost 600 housing associations who, combined, provide homes for around six million people in the UK.

Following the tragic events at Grenfell in 2017, the NHF introduced the ‘Together with Tenants Charter’ to strengthen relationships between landlords and residents. The Charter sets clear commitments for residents on what they should expect, enabling them to hold landlords to account.